Markus Brier is back in the Legends Tour winner’s circle after a four-year hiatus as the Austrian converted his 36-hole lead at the inaugural Black Desert NI Legends at Galgorm.
After opening with a 65, the 57-year-old hit the front with a three-under 69 in the driving rain on day two, and then closed out with a two-under-par 70 in the heavy winds that were a constant throughout the final round.
Starting with a two-stroke lead over Swede Mikael Lundberg and one shot more over England’s Simon Griffiths, Brier covered the opening nine holes in two-under thanks to birdies on three and nine and seven pars, but as he’d later admit, he was surprised to see that his lead hadn’t grown given the strength of the gusts.
That was largely due to the charge of Frenchman Lionel Alexandre who was going for broke. Despite opening with a bogey and making another on six, he birdied the second, third and seventh holes, then eagled both of the par-5s either side of the turn to get to -5 on the day and -10 overall.
He couldn’t maintain the push, however, and played the final eight in one-over, birdieing the last to set the clubhouse target at -9.
Brier dropped a shot on 13, but responded in magnificent fashion to birdie the par-3 14th, starting his tee shot well right and allowing it to ride the stiff cross breeze and come to rest within four feet, and then another birdie on 15 saw him open up a five-stroke gap and put one hand on the trophy.
It was never going to be that easy, though. After pushing his tee shot into the trees on 16, he ended up needing to get up-and-down from the greenside bunker for bogey, and when Lundberg birdied 17 to get back within three, a three-shot swing on the last was not out of the question, particularly when the Swede launched his drive down the middle, leaving him within easy reaching distance of the par-5.
But Brier, opting to lay back, found the short grass with his fairway wood and put himself in ideal position with his second, and Lundberg’s approach left him with around 40 feet for the eagle he needed to have any chance once Brier wedged to 15 feet.
To Lundberg’s credit, he gave it a good run, then held his nerve on the four-footer back which saw him edge ahead of Alexandre and take solo second.
Brier’s birdie putt burned the edge, leaving himself a six-inch tap-in for a victory that put an end to a two-year streak where he feels he’s underperformed.
“It’s brilliant,” a smiling Brier said afterwards. “I mean, I’m so happy because the last two years were really not what I wanted and to come back like this from nowhere, it just feels so good.”
“Actually it went pretty good,” he added when asked about being in Sunday contention for the first time in a long time. “I mean, the first couple of holes, I got into a good rhythm, hit a few really good shots, so that gave me some confidence and then I kept holing my putts like I did all week.
“I had a few lip ins, but at the end, you need a few of those to win. It got a bit shaky, but I haven’t won for four years, so I’m just happy that it was enough at the end.”
The birdies on 14 and 15 were crucial, he admitted, as he was beginning to feel the pressure with the chasing pack refusing to hand it to him easily.
“Yeah, they was big because, when I came to nine, I saw that some guys had reached 10-under and I was surprised because I was playing well – I was two-under, so I thought in these conditions, everything’s good. But then I hit two really good shots into 14 and 15 – especially 14 – and my putter was still working. So yeah, if you’ve got a few shots in hand for the last three holes, it makes it easier. And I needed them.”
One of the big turnarounds in his game has been his putting, having gone back to one of his old putters last week, and the newfound confidence, combined with the quality of the putting surfaces at Galgorm, were key to victory.
“Last week was the first week [going back to the old putter] and it only worked in the last round – the first two rounds were the same as the last two years, but now I’ve got the feeling again, all the long putts at a good pace and I was never really in trouble making two putts.
“And the greens were so good. I mean, if you put them online, they all went in. There were no bobbles, the greens were just brilliant.
“But it means everything. We’re out here to win, and if you haven’t won or been in contention for some years…. That’s what I worked for and now I know, OK, I’m on the right path and I hope I can keep it going.”
The week was ultimately one of disappointment for the two Irishmen in the field, with Damian Mooney closing out with a three-over 75 for a +6 tally and a share of 47th, with Gary Murphy finishing on +8 and sharing 52nd with a final-round of 73.
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